Tag: COVID-19

At-home Self-testing: A Giant Leap Towards Transformation in Diagnostic Sector

In the health industry, digitization has evolved over time with numerous advances to ensure that everyone has equitable access to health products and medical specialists.  At-home Self-testing has the ability to improve health equity and accelerate progress toward universal health coverage, and it has the capacity to alter health care. Self-testing alternatives provide individuals and

Pharmaceutical Vials Witnessing High Demand Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Over the years, advances in drug / therapy development processes have led the pharmaceutical industry to gradually shift from a one-drug treats all model to a more personalized approach of treatment. The growing complexity of modern pharmacological interventions, such as monoclonal antibodies, and cell and gene therapies, has further prompted the drug developers to develop

Teleradiology: The Need of The Hour During COVID-19 Pandemic

Teleradiology is a branch of telemedicine that uses telecommunication systems for the transmission of radiological images from one location to another. Additionally, it helps the radiologists to interpret various types of images, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasound, and X-rays, remotely. As of late, teleradiology has piqued

Digital Therapeutics: Key Concepts and Regulations to Tackle COVID-19 Pandemic

Digital therapeutics are clinically validated applications / software / online programs that have demonstrated the capability to facilitate positive outcomes when used in the prevention / treatment / management of diseases / clinical conditions. These therapeutics are designed to engage patients in personalized treatment or disease prevention programs, through mediating behavioral or psychological modifications, providing

Single-Use Bioreactors on Rescue for COVID-19 Research

The development of single-use bioreactors started nearly 40 years ago in 1980s. It was around this time that the bio-processors began to use plastic film bags to culture cells, which were initially designed for food storage and culture media containment. Moreover, incremental evolution of the concept of disposable technologies have facilitated various advancements in development

Computational / In Silico Drug Discovery: A Boon in Disguise for Faster Drug Discovery Operations Amidst COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to throw the global economy into recession, with loss of trillions of dollars. The pharmaceutical industry cannot escape the brunt of the circumstances as well. In fact, according to a survey, 95% of healthcare industry professionals are worried about the impact the pandemic is likely to have on the industry. So far,

Needle-free Injection System: A light bearer in the fight against the thick darkness of COVID-19

The apocalyptic images of the COVID-19 induced locked-down world are heart wrenching. All healthcare related domains are being created at a rapid rate. Around the world, the coronavirus pandemic is overstretching health services and reportedly more than 40 companies have boosted their R&D efforts to hit the bulls eye and deliver the much awaited vaccines

CRISPR Can be a Solution to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic

As we know, COVID-19 is causing large scale loss of life and severe human suffering. With the pandemic spreading across the globe, researchers are racing against the clock to develop diagnostic tools, vaccines and treatments. Recently, WHO has launched a Solidarity clinical trial to assess relative effectiveness of four potential drugs against COVID-19. Further, there

Growing Oligonucleotide-based Drugs Pipeline Escalates Manufacturing Demand

As therapeutic agents, oligonucleotides are known to be associated with several unique features, such as high selectivity and potency (similar to biologics), and differentiated pharmacology, which further augment their drug-like properties. At present, eight oligonucleotide-based drugs are available in the market, namely (in reverse chronological order of year of approval) GIVLAARI™ (2019), ONPATTRO® (2018), TEGSEDI™

How COVID-19 Poses a Sharp Challenge on China Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing Market?

China, epicenter of the COVID-19, is the world’s second largest pharmaceutical market and accounts for 20 % of the global output of APIs. With over 25 biologics and biosimilar products approved till date and close to 1,000 clinical trials, investigating a variety of biologics and biosimilars, being underway in this region, China’s biopharma market is

COVID-19: Drugwatch – 6 April 2020

To date, there are no approved treatments for COVID-19. However, the pharmaceutical industry is abuzz with activity as medical researchers strive to develop a cure, and possibly a vaccine, for the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. In this article, we have attempted to explore some of the more popular treatments / preventive measures that

COVID-19: Where are we today?

Comparison with other communicable diseases According to worldometers.info, as of 5 April 2020 (5:30 PM GMT), the total number of COVID-19 cases rose to over a million, with a reported mortality rate of 5%. Further, a comparison with certain other communicable disease-related deaths (Figure below) presents a worrisome situation. As of 5-April 2020, the novel

Fragment-based Drug Discovery – A Boon in Disguise to get a Breakthrough Drug Against Covid-19

With over 855,000 cases and 42,000 deaths, the novel coronavirus has taken its toll on humanity. The pandemic is predicted to throw the global economy into recession, with loss of trillions of dollars. The pharmaceutical industry cannot escape the brunt of the circumstances as well. In fact, according to a survey, 95% of healthcare industry

Continuous Manufacturing: Solution to Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry’s COVID-19 Concerns

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has put the pharmaceutical manufacturing supply chain under close scrutiny. The overdependence of the US on China and India to meet its API demand has been the talk of the town. However, with the number of infected cases in the US surpassing that of China, the focus has shifted from discussing

COVID-19 Impact on Gene Therapy Market

In a recent press release, bluebird bio, one of the leading gene therapy developers, announced that COVID-19 has delayed the EU launch and US filing of the company’s gene therapy candidate Zynteglo (LentiGlobin). The company now expects to dose the first commercial patient with Zynteglo in Germany in the second half of 2020. Earlier, the company had